The current director of the festival is Italian activist and actress, Vladimir Luxuria.
The festival was founded by filmmakers Giovanni Minerba and Ottavio Mario Mai who in 1981 presented their first film “Dalla vita di Piero”, receiving critical acclaim at the Turin Youth Cinema Festival.
The film was unique for its time in that its protagonist did not fit the stereotype of homosexuals featured in mainstream cinema who were typically marginalized or stigmatized caricatures.
The praise it received inspired the idea of an international film festival honouring pictures with gay themes.
What started in 1986 as a modest review titled "From Sodom to Hollywood", transformed into a government sponsored festival in 1989.